App-based Psychosocial Intervention to Enhance Quality of Life in Arabic-speaking Refugees Residing in Switzerland (Sui)

University of Bern

Status: Completed

Conditions: PTSD; Quality of Life; Depression; Anxiety; Stigma, Social

Treatments: Behavioral: Sui App (SRK)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05651737

2022-00607

Details and patient eligibility

About

The ongoing warfare and economic instability in the Middle East and in North Africa causes many people to leave their home countries. Arrived in a host countries, in this example, in Switzerland, they face a lot of structural and psychosocial hurdles. Particularly in the first years, building up a certain quality of life is complicated and challenging. To support this process, the Swiss Red Cross and the University of Bern have developed the Sui app. It contains structural and social information as well as low-intensity psychological tools to provide support to the everyday life of Arabic-speaking people in Switzerland.

Enrollment: 170 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• At least 18 years old
• Arabic as native or second language
• Good knowledge of reading, writing and speaking Arabic
• Have lived in Switzerland for no longer than 5 years
• Give written consent
• Have access to a smartphone and an internet connection
• Indicate an emergency contact whom they could contact in event of a crisis

Exclusion criteria

• Indicate an increased risk of self-harm or suicide at baseline
• Indicate having been diagnosed with psychosis or bipolar disorder
• Be participating in a similar study at baseline
• Have a lack of written and spoken Arabic skills

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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170 participants in 3 patient groups

Sui App+ (peer guided)

Active Comparator group

Description:

The active phase of the study is eight weeks per participant with a follow-up online assessment after another eight weeks. One of the active study groups, the Sui App+ condition, receives the Sui app plus a peer who will guide them online. They receive weekly individual messages from their peer within the chat of the app.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sui App (SRK)

Sui App (unguided)

Active Comparator group

Description:

The active phase of the study is eight weeks per participant with a follow-up online assessment after another eight weeks. The second active study group receives the app as a standalone intervention. They use whatever content they are interested in and receive weekly push-notifications in case they were not active.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Sui App (SRK)

Waitlist control group

No Intervention group

Description:

The control arm is a waitlist control group that receives access to the app after eight weeks.